April 22, 2025
The American Art Therapy Association represents a diversity of professionals, students, and organizations across the nation. We recognize and celebrate the work of our members at all levels through our Featured Member series.
What inspires you most about your job right now?
I love seeing relief and clarity come to my clients’ faces, bodies, and thoughts when they give art a chance. I get energized talking with other professionals about how they can incorporate art with their clients to create new insights and breakthroughs.
At this point in my life I value the ripple effect more and more and want to empower others to do what I do so more people can experience the healing power of art. That is why in my own business I’m focusing on books, courses, and professional consultation.
Has working with a particular client group shaped your professional focus or specialty? What have you learned from working with these clients?
I have one client who has come in and out of my life for nearly 20 years. She is deaf and losing her sight. Working with her has been a transforming experience, ranging from frustration and feeling unable to help and looking for referrals, to accepting that she is here with me for a reason and celebrating her creativity. We have overcome hurdles together and inspired each other.
Communication is difficult, and sometimes it’s painful not to intervene and do something for her, but to let her struggle just enough to figure things out, recognize her own abilities, and trust her creative instinct. She has opened up with me about some struggles she won’t share with anyone else, she has grown in confidence operating out in the world, and even led art classes in the community! I’m learning to read subtle cues as her assistant in the art making process and she is surprising me with her growth and creativity. She has inspired me to try new art forms that are more and more tactile.
She was giddy one day when I agreed to make “blind art” with her and tied a bandana around my eyes. We cut snowflakes out of foam paper. It was a profound moment of insight and connection, producing a new kind of empathy and gratitude for sight.
She has been incredibly private, struggles with very dark days, and her trust in people has been broken time and time again. There are days I wonder if our meetings are even helping her, but recently she showed me they matter very much. She talked about our meetings with a woman from another agency and said she should ask me to present at a workshop this coming spring about using different forms of therapy with the deaf/blind community. Long story short, this woman who has refused to give emergency contacts to maintain her confidentiality, asked if she could introduce herself and me at the workshop and tell people how art has helped her express her emotions and develop coping skills!
Art has truly been a transformational bridge for this client and this therapeutic relationship—one I never saw coming as I trained to be an Art Therapist.
“Recognize your own limits and need for boundaries and self care. Once word about your great work with clients gets out, your schedule will be full and your waitlist never ending. Getting overwhelmed by the pain in the world can quickly be come overwhelming and burnout is very real. Schedule your vacation days in advance, use your sick days, make time for your family, friends, and creating your own art.”
— Jen Alward, MA, LPC, ATRL-BC
What advice would you give someone interested in pursuing a career in art therapy?
Be flexible and patient.
Create a room that is welcoming (so it feels like a living room in a house, not an office in a clinic) and has a space where spilled supplies doesn’t mean a big cleaning or repair bill.
Regarding licensing and getting a job, know your location. Ask your state about the process of licensure. Ask about what licenses insurance near you covers, particularly the state insurance. I ran into a lot of roadblocks along the way that would have been avoided if I’d paid attention to the classes needed for my state’s general professional counselor license first and gotten that license while continuing to pursue my Art Therapy training via CEU’s.
How have race, diversity, and/or social justice impacted your work as an art therapist?
In my cross-cultural travels and work around the world, art has been a bridge that connects people and transforms spaces (emotional and physical). It’s always such a surprise what happens when you offer art supplies and silently show people you see them and that they matter. There have been different challenge every time that have stretched me in new ways and helped me see things from different perspectives, which influences how I interact with others, ask questions, make art, and offer art opportunities.
What are your hopes for the future of the art therapy profession?
That it will be covered by all insurances.
About Jen Alward, MA, LPC, ATRL-BC
Jen Alward, has had an eye for beauty her entire life, creating collections of things that inspired her and making gifts of them before she could even use a paintbrush. As her artistic skills grew she was drawn to the healing properties of the arts, eventually obtaining a Master’s in Art Therapy & Marriage and Family Therapy from Notre Dame de Namur University in California (NDNU), licenses as a counselor and Art Therapist in Wisconsin, and national board certification as an Art Therapist. In addition to her counseling practice, Jen’s creativity blends with her faith encouraging others to make art that helps them see themselves and God more clearly at LearningToSeeStudio.com.
She has written books to help parents connect with their children and empower them for life (Hope and Healing at Home), face the pain of grief and heal (Finding Hope), and refocus our hearts to rediscover the Christmas story during Advent (A Refocused Advent). She has also illustrated a book by Kristina Risinger to help children cope with grief (The Adventures of Lily and Izzy Bee) and co-authored a book with J Scott McElroy to help churches minister with art (How to CARE).
Jen enjoys life with her dogs, family and friends in the ever changing Northwoods of Wisconsin. She’s also been blessed to take her love for healing through the arts and faith around the world to places in Ethiopia, Ukraine, Russia, Czech Republic, Morocco, Haiti, Egypt, Thailand, and Laos. You can connect with her on social media (Instagram, Facebook, X, Patreon) and your favorite podcast platform as Jen Alward or Learning to See Studio to hear more about her courses, membership, books, artistic adventures, and healing opportunities.
Website and social media handles (for yourself and your place of work or school) if you’d like these shared with the community.
Learn more about Jen and her work on her website: https://www.learningtoseestudio.com, or on her Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, or Patreon.